Batfilms' Future Doubtful?
he Coming Soon Web site reported rumors that the various proposed Batman film projects are moribund for the time being.
But screenwriter John Rogers told the site that his movie adaptation of DC Comics' Catwoman character is still in development at Warner Bros. Rogers said that he's turning in the second draft of a script, in which the main character, Patience Price, played by Ashley Judd, "has to stand on her own two feet."
As for the Batman films, the site reported:
•Batman: Year One, to be directed by Darren Aronofsky, hasn't been able to come up with a script, and writers are going back to square one.
•Batman Beyond, based on the animated TV series, was deemed too expensive because of its futuristic setting.
•Superman and Batman, from writer Andrew Kevin Walker and director Wolfgang Petersen, remains stuck in development hell.
Angels Helmer Flies To Superman?
he Coming Attractions Web site reported a rumor that Charlie's Angels director McG has signed on to direct the much-anticipated new Superman film.
The rumor, based on an anonymous tip, said that the film won't deal with the death of Superman, though no story has been devised yet.
But the site also reported that McG is tied up with other projects and likely wouldn't have time to commit to the feature. The new Superman film has been rumored to be in various stages of development, but no official word has come out about its status in months.
B5: Rangers Site Goes Live
CIFI.COM has launched a redesigned official Web site for The SCI FI Channel's upcoming original television movie Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers.
Rangers is a new two-hour film from the creative team behind Babylon 5 and tells the story of the Ranger fleet as it attempts to restore order to hundreds of civilizations devastated by the Shadow War.
The site includes Web-only trailers for the movie, an interview with B5 and Rangers star Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar) and a sweepstakes to win a one-of-a-kind Rangers poster signed by the cast members, B5 creator J. Michael Straczynski and executive producer Doug Netter. The sweepstakes runs through Oct. 16. Rangers, the pilot for a possible SCI FI series, will air in 2002.
Sean Astin Tries On Rings
ean Astin, who plays Sam Gamgee in Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings films, told SCI FI Wire that he learned "so much" about the acting craft as a result of his participation in the big-screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy.
"I learned a lot about my voice, about my body," said Astin, who put on 30 pounds to portray the Hobbit gardener who joins Frodo (Elijah Wood) and the other members of the fellowship on the treacherous journey to Mt. Doom to destroy the Ring. "One of an actor's most important tools is his body. I learned what I'm capable of doing with and to my body, in terms of weight loss and weight gain, and I spent six weeks [working] with two dialect coaches."
Astin's genre credits include The Goonies; the "Snap Ending" episode of Perversions of Science, which he also directed; and Harrison Bergeron. He spent 16 months shooting Rings in New Zealand. "I got to study with Bob Anderson, the world-famous swordmaster," said the actor, son of Addams Family star John Astin, who worked with Jackson on The Frighteners. "So I got to learn a little bit of sword technique. The catalogue of what I learned as an actor is so huge that I could fill books with it."
Astin added, "I studied very briefly with [acting coach] Stella Adler, and she used to say,
'It's the actor's job to tell the truth onstage.' And here we are making a fantasy. I think I learned how to tell the truth in an incredibly dynamic setting, in ways that would be very challenging to tell the truth, because of sleep deprivation or fear or other things. I [also] learned what the modern actor is faced with in this digital age." The first Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring, opens nationwide on Dec. 19.
Roswell Gets Funny
oswell co-executive producer Ronald D. Moore told Cinescape Online that the next episode will focus comedically on the characters of Michael (Brendan Fehr) and Kyle (Nick Wechsler).
The third season's second episode, airing Oct. 16, will be titled "Michael, the Guys, and the Great Snapple Caper," Moore told Cinescape's Anna L. Kaplan.
"Michael looks around and realizes that he's stuck here," Moore said. "He's the one that always assumed he was going to be leaving and never really bothered much with convention or trying to do anything with his life on Earth. Suddenly, he ain't going home and decides, 'I have to get my act together.' He's about to flunk out of high school. He's got this apartment, and he can't pay the bills. So he decides to take on a second job and start taking more responsibility in his life. He takes a job as a night watchman. The second episode is basically played for laughs. It's Michael working as a night watchman at this place, bonding with the guys and starting to screw around with them and hanging out."
The episode will also touch upon ex-sheriff Jim Valenti (William Sadler) and his son, Kyle. "After Valenti lost his job as sheriff, he hasn't gotten a new job yet," Moore said. "He's been sitting on the couch sleeping and watching TV all day. Kyle has had to go out and get a job. You see that Kyle is now the parent, and Valenti is now the son. That's also in the second episode. Kyle is getting sick of it, having trouble paying the bills and telling dad to get off his ass and do something with his life."
Frakes Offers Roswell Spoilers
oswell co-executive producer Jonathan Frakes told SCI FI Wire that the SF show will have a new look and feel as it kicks off its third season Oct. 9. "We can't pretend most of these kids are in high school anymore, which I think is a blessing," Frakes said in an interview.
"Isabel [Katherine Heigl] is in college. Max [Jason Behr] is on the run. I just directed an episode ["Secrets and Lies"], and it's Max in L.A. looking for
the second shapeshifter [to be played by Joe Pantoliano of The Matrix]."
Frakes added, "We've really upped the ante in terms of the setting and characters. Half of my episode was shot in the streets of L.A. Michael's [Brendan Fehr] got a job at a high-tech firm as a security guard. It's going to end up revealing that there's stuff going on there that's going to help Max understand the mystery [surrounding his son]. The kids are not standing around lockers much anymore. Liz [Shiri Appleby] and Kyle [Nick Wechsler]
are still in high school, because Shiri and Nick can still play that age. So we can occasionally tell stories that take place in a classroom. And we'll still have that wonderful SF underpinning. The surfacing of the second shapeshifter will provide cool optical opportunities, but the strength of [executive producers] Jason Katims and Ron Moore as writers is [that] they lean more on character than [on] visuals. As someone once said, `If it ain't on the page ... .'" Roswell moves to UPN at 9 p.m. ET/PT Oct. 9.
Jedi A U.K. Religion Is
edi Knight" has made it onto the list of official religions on the 2001 United Kingdom census, the BBC reported.
The listing is a result of an Internet campaign to get Star Wars fans to list the fictitious order on their census forms, the news service reported.
Jedi Knight joins the Church of England, Roman Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu—as well as druidism, satanism and Wicca—on the list of official British religions. Enough census respondents wrote in the entry for Jedi Knight to win its own code for purposes of census processing, the BBC reported.
Officials from the Office of National Statistics were quick to point out to the BBC that giving "Jedi Knight" its own code does not confer on it the status of official recognition. "We are not defining what a religion or a faith might be," a spokeswoman told the BBC. "We are recognizing what some may have entered on their census form and ensuring that our coding framework will cater for it."
Snow DVD Sales Set Record
he DVD release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney's first animated film, sold a record 1 million copies in its first 24 hours of release, Variety reported.
That equates to roughly $20 million-$25 million in consumer spending on the 64-year-old movie, which has already sold more than 25 million copies on VHS and generated approximately $1 billion in cumulative video and theatrical spending, the trade paper reported.
Many of the record-setting sales can be attributed to Disney's higher-than-normal pre-sales on the title at Disney stores and other retailers, who began taking orders months ago, Robert Chapek, president of Buena Vista Home Entertainment, told Variety. Industry sources told the paper that the studio shipped more than 4 million copies of the two-disc set.
Angel Aims For Profit
avid Greenwalt, co-creator of The WB's Angel, told TV Guide Online he'd like to pair the tormented vampire with an earlier creation—Jim Profit, the lead character in Fox's short-lived Profit, which Greenwalt also produced.
Adrian Pasdar played the dark character.
"I have a big love of Adrian," Greenwalt told TV Guide. "But right now, Adrian's doing an NBC show [Mysterious Ways], and it's doing very well, so I don't know about availability." Getting the rights to the character might be tricky, too, the site reported. "I'd love to bring him in as a lawyer at Wolfram & Hart," Greenwalt said. "There might be some arc for him to play. We've talked about that for years over here, and I still dream of it." Another Profit alumnus, Keith Szarabajka, has already joined Angel as a vampire hunter.
Buffy Star's Dad Dies
uffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar's long-estranged father was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Oct. 9, the New York Daily News reported.
Arthur Gellar, 60, was discovered in the bed of his residence; a friend who hadn't heard from Arthur in several days called police.
Authorities are investigating whether he may have died of a drug overdose, since medication was found at the scene, the newspaper reported. Arthur Gellar had been battling cancer and was "suffering from depression," a family friend told the paper. The medical examiner's office is scheduled to do an autopsy on Oct. 11.
Sarah Michelle Gellar had no comment on the elder Gellar's death. In the past, the Buffy star has expressed disdain for her father, who divorced her mother, Rosellen, when Sarah was 8. The famous father of Sarah's fiance, Freddy Prinze Jr., died in 1976 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Trachtenberg Hosts Scare
uffy the Vampire Slayer's Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn) will host Truth or Scare, a half-hour children's series that looks at paranormal phenomena.
Each episode will combine science, folklore and pop culture to explore ghosts, UFOs, haunted houses, mythical beasts and ancient legends around the globe.
Four half-hour episodes will premiere on the Discovery Channel on Oct. 25, which will air back-to-back from 8-10 p.m. ET/PT. Truth or Scare will then air on Discovery Kids on Oct. 31, with an all-day-and-night Truth-or-Scare-a-Thon, beginning at noon. Starting Nov. 2, Truth or Scare will air regularly on Discovery Kids on Fridays from 8-8:30 p.m. and 11-11:30 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30 a.m.-noon and 8:30-9 p.m.
Lawless Spills X-Files Secrets
ena: Warrior Princess star Lucy Lawless, who appears in the two-part season premiere of The X-Files, revealed a few tidbits about her top-secret role to free-lance genre columnist Ian Spelling.
The X-Files kicks off its ninth season on Nov. 4 with the episode "Nothing Important Happened Today."
"My character, Shannon McMahon, re-enters [Agent John] Doggett's life," Lawless told Spelling by telephone from her home in Auckland, New Zealand. "They used to be in the military together—in my backstory, they fought in Beirut—and now she's causing a great deal of trouble. You don't know if she's good, and you don't know if she's bad. She seems to be both things at once."
Lawless added that McMahon bears tidings for Scully's baby. "And I spent half my time naked," she said. "Why not, if it looks good onscreen? Of course, you don't see anything, except my well-endowed body double. Let's just say the character's a bit of a water baby, a water babe. She's a nymph."
But Lawless declined to say more. "I feel like [X-Files creator] Chris Carter will come after me, and I'll end up with bloody cement boots on my feet at the bottom of the ocean if I tell you too much."
ILM Conjures Hulk, Potter
eorge Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic will provide the visual effects for both Universal's The Hulk and Warner Bros.' sequel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Variety reported.
ILM is already working on the upcoming genre films Star Wars: Episode II—The Attack of the Clones, Men in Black 2, Minority Report, The Time Machine and Signs.
Oscar-winning effects veteran Dennis Muren (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) will oversee the visuals on The Hulk, the Ang Lee movie based on the Marvel Comics series, Variety reported. ILM has been granted an unusually long amount of time on which to create the computer-generated elements necessary for The Hulk, which doesn't hit theaters until spring 2003, the trade paper reported.
ILM edged out Imageworks (Spider-Man) for the second Harry Potter film, based on the J.K. Rowling children's novel of the same name. Chamber of Secrets is slated to bow next year; the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, premieres Nov. 16.
Potter Rumors Debunked
hris Columbus, director of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, denied several widespread rumors in an interview with the Empire Online Web site.
Potter, based on J.K. Rowling's best-selling book of the same name, opens Nov. 16. Among the rumors Columbus debunks:
•Hugh Grant was tested for the role of Guilderoy Lockhart in the upcoming sequel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. "I haven't even spoken to Hugh," Columbus told the site.
•Alan Cumming has been cast as Lockhart. False, Columbus said. "I read that in the Mail. ... By mid-November we'll be ready to make some announcements."
•Scenes in the second film were scrapped because nudists were basking in the background. Also false, Columbus said.
But Columbus confirmed that filming has already begun on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which is expected to take about 120 days, and that he plans to shoot all seven of Rowling's proposed Potter books in sequence.
Potter Film Has A Surprise
hris Columbus, director of the much-anticipated film version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, told Empire Online to expect a few surprises.
Potter author J.K. Rowling "did a little piece for us that wasn't in the first book, but she had written it, and she authorized it, and it's in there, and it's a little secret that you won't expect to see," Columbus told the site. "It's in the first film, because she originally wrote it for the first book and decided to take it out. So you'll see that when you see the film. ... [It's] one little sequence where we get a key into something that happened in Harry's past."
Columbus also denied a rumor that a rough cut of the film clocked in at more than four hours. "The final cut will be between two hours, 30 and 35 minutes," Columbus said. "A few things are missing. Obviously we had to edit, or else the film would have been six hours long." Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone opens Nov. 16.
Singer Up For Powers 3
eyonce Knowles, one of the three members of pop/R&B group Destiny's Child, is in advanced talks to make her feature-film debut as the female lead in the upcoming sequel Austin Powers 3: Goldmember for director Jay Roach, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Production is scheduled to begin next month for a July 26 release date, the trade paper reported.
Knowles joins Mike Myers, who plays the title role and the villainous Dr. Evil, and Michael Caine, who plays Austin's father, the trade paper reported. Knowles made her acting debut in the title role of the MTV television movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera.
Goldmember Brosnan Rumor Denied
ames Bond star Pierce Brosnan's publicist Dick Guttman denied to the Showbiz Ireland Web site a rumor that Brosnan would have a cameo in the upcoming sequel film Austin Powers: Goldmember.
Brosnan was rumored to make an appearance spoofing his 007 persona, replacing Tom Cruise, who was earlier rumored to make a cameo in the spy satire.
"I don't know where these stories come from," Guttman told the site. "Pierce is in Ireland until Christmas, then will be starting work on the new Bond, so I don't even know where he would get the time. His calendar is gone for the next year already."
ABC, Fox Make Play For Time
BC and Fox are battling over a remake of the 1966 SF television series The Time Tunnel, now in development by Regency Television and 20th Century Fox Television, Variety reported.
Writer Rand Ravich (The Astronaut's Wife) and director Todd Holland are updating the Irwin Allen series, about two young scientists who travel through time as part of a secret government project. Kevin Burns and Jon Jashni are attached as executive producers, along with Sheila Allen, Irwin Allen's widow, the trade paper reported.
Both ABC and Fox have made substantial offers for the rights to the project, with ABC's initial offer said to be significantly higher than Fox's, Variety reported. Each network has offered a pilot commitment with a cash penalty if the project is not taken to series. ABC has also made a 13-episode commitment to Time Tunnel, along with a higher cash penalty, and Fox is willing to match ABC's bid, the trade paper reported.
Miramax Has Human Touch
iramax Films will develop Human, a science fiction movie based on Miguel Sapochnik and Ivor Powell's short film The Dreamer, Variety reported.
Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction) and Powell will produce; Sapochnik and Powell are writing the screenplay, with Sapochnik directing, the trade paper reported.
The film is set 100 years in the future and tells the story of one genetically engineered human clone slave who leads a rebellion against the human race. Powell's producing credits include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien and Blade Runner.
Mummy Videos Earn Big
he DVD and VHS version of The Mummy Returns grossed a record $90 million in sales and rentals in the first week—33 percent more than the $68.1 million the film made in its theatrical debut, Variety reported.
The video versions hit store shelves Oct. 2.
Universal shipped a record 4.5 million units of The Mummy Returns—including more than 2 million DVD copies—in the first week. Total combined VHS and DVD sales of The Mummy Returns were 70 percent greater than video sales of the original The Mummy in 1999, Variety reported.
Disney, meanwhile, reportedly shipped 4 million copies of its video release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on Oct. 9.
Sommers Says No To Mummy 3
tephen Sommers told E! Online that he's not interested in directing a sequel to his two hit films The Mummy and The Mummy Returns.
Speaking at a promotional event for the DVD release of the second film, Sommers added that he didn't give much thought to the extras on the DVD, which broke records in its release this week.
"Maybe it's because I'm a writer and spend so much time writing," Sommers told the site. "I don't return calls, because I spend from 9:30 in the morning till 7 at night five days a week writing, so I don't really think of the DVD until we get deep into post-production."
Scorpion Not Supernatural?
ichael Clarke Duncan told SCI FI Wire that his upcoming film, The Scorpion King, will not have a heavy supernatural influence like the Mummy films that spawned it.
"It does not have too much of the supernatural," Duncan said in an interview. "This is all some big guy wearing little thongs and stuff like that. We had a fun time. [Star] Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, really did a tremendous job."
The film tells the origins of Johnson's character, the Scorpion King, who was introduced in The Mummy Returns. Duncan plays an army leader who at first opposes and battles Johnson's character, but later becomes an ally. Speaking of how his thong costume fit, Duncan said, "Pretty snug." The Scorpion King opens in April 2002.
Frakes Talks Trek: Nemesis
tar Trek: The Next Generation star Jonathan Frakes told SCI FI Wire that he doesn't know how he'll feel reprising the role of Will Riker in the upcoming 10th Trek film, Nemesis, but not directing it.
"Good question," he said in an interview. "You should probably ask me the day after."
Frakes directed the two previous Next Generation movies, but Stuart Baird assumes the helm this time around. Instead, Paramount tapped Frakes to direct its family SF adventure Clockstoppers, which will be released in March. "I've got other things cooking," said Frakes, who, with his partner Lisa J. Olin, just sold a series called Phrackers to MTV and another show, the Harry Potter-esque Zooth's Magic, to YTV in Canada. "Frankly, it's a year of your life. I've done two, and they were great. How different or better can the third one be for me? Plus, I get to play with Marina [Sirtis, whose Troi character may marry Riker]. I can lie around the set and laugh with Patrick [Stewart] and Brent [Spiner]. I can be the a-shole I always was. I don't have to worry about making the schedule."
TNG Wins Big For TNN
NN's Star Trek: The Next Generation marathon last week earned the cable network its best Tuesday and Wednesday ratings ever, Variety reported.
Diane Robina, executive vice president and general manager of sister network TNT, told Variety that the marathon has met the goal of building momentum for TNG as it settles into its twice-a-day schedule at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, starting Oct. 8.
More than two-thirds of the audience fell into the coveted adults 18-49 category, the trade paper reported.
Braga Talks Enterprise Theme
nterprise co-creator Brannon Braga told the Calgary Sun that he's aware of some fans' unhappiness with the UPN series' opening theme song, Faith of the Heart, by Dianne Warren.
"We can't please everybody," Braga told the newspaper. "There are some people who love the song, and there are people who think it's cheesy."
Braga added that some fans have even shown up at the Paramount lot in Los Angeles, waving placards that say "Love Enterprise. Hate the song." "They came with a petition with 1,000 signatures," he said. "But plenty of people find the song very uplifting." His advice to fans who don't like the theme? "Turn the volume down."
Fans Auction Ryan Items
he official fan club of Star Trek: Voyager star Jeri Ryan is sponsoring an online auction to benefit the American Red Cross and its relief efforts for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The auction, co-sponsored by Ryan's official Web site, takes place Nov. 3-9 and will feature collectibles and items donated by Ryan and her showbiz pals.
An electronic catalog will be available on the auction Web site. With Voyager's end, Ryan is now a regular on Fox's Boston Public.
T2 Star Arrested Twice
erminator 2: Judgment Day star Edward Furlong was arrested twice on Sept. 25 in West Hollywood, Calif., first on suspicion of driving without a license and later for driving under the influence, US Weekly reported.
At the time, Furlong was with his girlfriend, Enterprise star Jolene Blalock, according to a report on the Zap2it Web site.
Meanwhile, Blalock told Los Angeles-based radio station KROQ-FM that she is in a new relationship that is "going very well," but wouldn't divulge the name of her new man, Zap2it reported. Furlong has a long history of getting in trouble with the law and recently spent a month at the Malibu, Calif., Promises rehab center, the site reported.
Terrorism Changes E.T.
.T. the Extra-Terrestrial will be altered in light of the recent terrorist attacks when it is re-released next year to commemorate its 20th anniversary, syndicated columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith reported.
E.T. star Dee Wallace Stone told the columnists that she had been called in to change a line in the film.
"There was some reference to one of the Halloween characters in the film looking like a terrorist, so we're going in to reloop that line," Stone said. She added that the re-release will feature "new footage, from what I understand."
New Sabrina Spinoff Mulled
he WB is planning a second spinoff of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, focusing on a family with a talking dog, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The network has already developed Witchright Hall, a spinoff that was supposed to appear this fall, but isn't on the network's schedule.
The new, as-yet-unnamed spinoff will be introduced in a Sabrina episode designed to serve as a "back-door pilot," which will air in the second half of the current season, the trade paper reported. Russell Marcus (Married ... With Children) will write the episode, which will be produced by Paula Hart's Hartbreak Films and Viacom. The new spinoff is intended to fit into The WB's Friday family comedy lineup, the paper reported.
Ringworld Rumor Quashed
he Ain't It Cool News Web site disputed a rumor that James Cameron was developing a feature film based on Larry Niven's Ringworld series of novels.
That rumor, based on a posting on a Niven mailing list, was reported by the Coming Attractions Web site.
But AICN cited Niven's agent denying that the rumor was true. "Apparently, as of this moment, there is absolutely no deal nor a deal in the planning stages between Larry Niven and James Cameron," AICN reported.
Making No Bones About Snoop
rnest Dickerson, director of the upcoming Snoop Dogg horror film Bones, told The Hollywood Reporter's columnist Martin A. Grove that the rapper may impress audiences.
"I think a lot of people are really going to be surprised when they see Snoop Dogg in the film," Dickerson told Grove. "He really did create a character, and he really approached it as an actor. It wasn't a rapper trying to be an actor. He really approached it as an actor. He was very professional, very serious about it, and really found a nice way of playing Jimmy Bones. Jimmy Bones is a damaged hero. He's a hero who becomes a monster. Definitely a damaged hero."
Bones is a horror film set in an urban neighborhood in both 1979 and 2002, in part about a man who comes back from the grave to avenge his death. "Even though the story of Bones is an African-American story, it's very universal in its scope," Dickerson said. "It's about a great boy who's betrayed and murdered. One of the murderers is his most trusted best friend. He's betrayed and murdered, and they're all complicit in the crime. He eventually comes back for revenge. Even though it's a Gothic horror film set in an African-American neighborhood, it could have been set in a town in Italy. It could have been set amongst the Yakuza in Japan. It could be anywhere. It's a great universal story. The people were real and I related quite strongly to them." Bones opens Oct. 24.
Bam Preps Fire Game
am Entertainment will publish a PlayStation 2 video game based on the upcoming SF film Reign of Fire, the FGN Web site reported.
The game will follow the movie's story, set in a future in which dragons have emerged to decimate the world's civilizations.
The game is in production at Kuju Entertainment and is due to release shortly after the movie in early fall 2002, FGN reported. Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale star in the film, directed by The X-Files' longtime helmer Rob Bowman.
Shaving Close For Smallville
ichael Rosenbaum, who plays Lex Luthor in The WB's upcoming Smallville series, told the CBS' Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn that he actually shaved his head for the part, according to a report on the Comics Continuum Web site.
"We tried a bald cap, but I was looking like a conehead," Rosenbaum told the show. "I said, 'Uh-uh, not going to do that everyday.'"
Rosenbaum said his head is shaved every day during the shooting of the Superman-based show in Vancouver, the Continuum reported. "These are the risks you take as a young actor trying to get noticed," he said. Smallville premieres Oct. 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Universal Develops Half
niversal will develop the fantasy film My Better Half, based on a spec script by Boyce Bugliari and Jamie McLaughlin, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Mostow/Lieberman will produce, the trade paper reported.
The dark romantic comedy is about a married couple on the verge of a divorce who switch bodies and set out to dismantle each other's lives, the trade paper reported. Universal senior vice president of production Donna Langley is overseeing the project for the studio, while Mostow/Lieberman president of production Rich Silverman will oversee for company principals Jonathan Mostow and Hal Lieberman.
Lemkin To Helm Howl
creenwriter Jonathan Lemkin (Red Planet) will make his feature directorial debut on Howl, a modern-day werewolf script he wrote, which Warner Bros. picked up, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
There is no start date for Howl and no producer attached, the trade paper reported.
The film tells the story of a werewolf hunter who, after 500 years, corners his prey in modern-day Texas.
Stealth Offers Halloween Stories
nline e-book publisher Stealth Press is offering a free e-anthology of Halloween stories.
The All Hallows-E: Halloween Tales from Seven Masters of Terror comprises seven classic horror stories in PDF format, the site reported.
The anthology includes Ray Bradbury's "The October Game," F. Paul Wilson's "The November Game," Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's "Disturb Not My Slumbering Fair," John Shirley's "The Mask Game," William F. Nolan's "The Halloween Man," Al Sarrantonio's "Pumpkin Head" and Peter Straub's "Pork Pie Hat."
John Shea Extols Mutant X
ohn Shea, star of the new syndicated SF series Mutant X, told SCI FI Wire that he signed because, after several years of work in stage plays and independent features, it was
time to find a high-profile job.
"In the cycle of my life, what I've done over the last 25 years is go in and out of commercial work," the actor said in an interview. "When Mutant X was offered to me, it seemed like the natural evolution of the cycle, back to the commercial end, back to where I'd been with Lois & Clark."
Genre fans will remember that Shea co-starred as Lex Luthor on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. After that, he spent five years appearing in Broadway and off-Broadway shows, as well as in numerous independent films—among them the drama Southie, which he co-wrote, directed and acted in opposite Charmed's Rose McGowan. Shea's other genre credits include Tales from the Crypt, The Man from Atlantis, Freejack, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the upcoming indie film The Empath. Now he's on board for Mutant X, a series with a guaranteed run of 44 episodes.
On Mutant X, Shea plays Adam, a wealthy scientist who unwittingly partook in experiments that resulted in the creation of 1,000 genetically enhanced mutants. Seeking to right the situation, Adam oversees Mutant X, a group that operates in secret, attempting to recruit mutants to its cause; save mutants from the clutches of the Genetic Security Agency and its malevolent
security chief, Mason Eckhart (Tom McManus), who is determined to eliminate all mutants before society takes note of them; and, in the process, protect mankind from renegade mutants.
"I didn't want to repeat myself and play another villain" like Luthor, Shea said. "What I like about Adam is that he's sort of an antihero. He's a wounded idealist, which is something I could relate to. And he's clearly the hero of the piece, or one of the heroes. He's on the run from the government and hiding underground. I liked that he's a complicated modern hero who's not so clearly black and white. I also met with [producer] Jamie Paul Rock and Howard Chaykin, the head writer, and I liked their take on what they promised would come. They said Mutant X would become an ensemble piece that would deal with some fairly serious issues and, at the same time, be enormously entertaining and broadly popular. I thought if I was going to be back in the world of television, I wanted to be in something that would be a hit, and this will be on the air for at least two years."
Shea added, "That also gave them the luxury of planning the evolution of my character and
the show. So it wasn't a normal TV series situation. You weren't making a pilot and hoping it would get picked up for six episodes or 13 episodes and then another nine. This was an extraordinary opportunity: to know that you'd get to go out and shoot 44 shows, that there was an extraordinary production behind it that would allow the material to develop. So, everything considered, it made sense to me." Mutant X airs its second episode the week of Oct. 8.
Capricorn One Relaunches
arlton American and Fox TV Pictures will remake the classic SF thriller film Capricorn One for television, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The announcement was made at MIPCOM, the international TV market in Cannes, the trade paper reported. Like the 1978 movie, the remake will deal with a faked manned mission to Mars.
Carlton America president and chief executive officer Stephen Davis, Carlton executive vice president Gary Goldberger and Fox TV Pictures executive vice president David Madden announced the project. Davis and Goldberger are also remaking The Boys From Brazil, about the cloning of Hitler.
Aquaman Rumors Disputed
he IGN FilmForce Web site disputed rumors that Kiefer Sutherland and Monica Potter were in talks to appear in a live-action movie based on DC Comics' Aquaman series.
The Coming Attractions Web site first reported the rumor.
But Aquaman producer Bill Gerber denied the report, IGN said. "[The] only development on this [project] has been as an animated feature," Gerber told the site.
Fox Taking Time
ox 2000 will develop Selling Time, a supernatural thriller film based on a spec script by DreamWorks Television president Dan McDermott, Variety reported.
Time tells the story of a man who is given the chance to relive the worst day of his life, with unexpected consequences.
John Davis (Dr. Doolittle II) will produce the film with his Fox-based Davis Entertainment Co., the trade paper reported. Selling Time is the first film script that McDermott has sold.
Lynch Catches Cabin Fever
avid Lynch has signed on as executive producer of Eli Roth's feature writing and directing debut, the SF horror film Cabin Fever, Variety reported.
The movie tells the story of five friends isolated in a cabin who contract a deadly flesh-eating virus and are forced to fight the disease or their closest friends.
Cabin will star Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), with Jordan Ladd and James DeBello in negotiations, the trade paper reported. Lauren Moews, Sam Froelich, Evan Astrowsky and Roth will produce, with Susan Jackson executive producing with Lynch. Production is slated to begin Oct. 29 in High Point, N.C.
Warburton Talks MIB 2 Aliens
atrick Warburton, soon to star in Fox's satirical TV series The Tick, told SCI FI Wire about his role in the upcoming Men in Black 2, in which he plays Will Smith's partner, Agent T.
Describing his character's alien encounters, Warbuton spoke of "very scary subway aliens. You've seen them before. Have you ever traveled around New York City underground? You know what I'm talking about."
Warburton said he did not have to reshoot anything when the decision was made to change some of the film's scenes from the World Trade Center out of sensitivity to the Sept. 11 attacks. He also could not report on any interesting weapons his character gets to fire, not even a noisy cricket. "Gosh, I guess I'm not that special," he joked. "I felt good about it up until this point."
Agent T loses his position and is replaced by a returning Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K, but Warburton would not say how his character leaves the film. "I've already said too much," Warburton said cryptically. Men in Black 2 opens in July 2002.
X-Men 2 Shoot Nabs Berry
cheduling conflicts may complicate Halle Berry's participation in the production of X-Men 2, which is slated to start in January, the Zap2it Web site reported.
Halle Berry was supposed to star opposite Ben Affleck in Gigli, which is set to start shooting at the end of the year, overlapping X-Men 2.
But Berry has reportedly chosen to stick with her previous commitment and reprise the role of Storm in the sequel to 2000's hit X-Men. X-Men 2 is aiming for a December 2002 release.
Fans Rally For Logan Story
ans of William F. Nolan's Logan's Run series of novels are organizing to order signed copies of the original Logan's Return manuscript for $15 to cover printing, postage and handling.
Nolan made the offer in response to fan outcry that the books are now out of print and unavailable in any form, according to the Logan's Run Web site. Nolan has offered to send out the manuscripts if at least 100 fans put up the money, Logan's Run Webmaster Paul Camuso told SCI FI Wire.
Nolan earlier told fans that, "per the original contracts, all three Logan books, along with the e-book novellette, Logan's Return, have been withdrawn from the Virtual Publishing Group of Berkeley, Calif. Virtual has the right to sell out their overstock copies, but no future printings will be forthcoming. When an actual production date has been set for the Warner Bros. remake of [the 1976 film version of] Logan's Run, the books will be resold and republished in the new tie-in film editions. Until then, they are officially out of print."
As for when the new film may hit theaters, Nolan said, "I wish I knew. It's all up to Warner Bros. Hopefully, by this time next year, the film will have been shot and into post-production. No cast or shooting schedule has been announced yet, but soon. I predict very soon. In the meantime, we just have to wait."
Secret Animation Underway At Square
ame publisher Square, which produced the flop computer-animated film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, is working on a secret animated movie for another studio at the $45 million studio in Hawaii from which it said last week it would withdraw funding, Variety reported.
Though Square has said it will pull financing from the studio and cease film production, it nevertheless said the facility will remain open, the trade paper reported.
Future Square projects in Hawaii will be done in collaboration with Hollywood studios that will finance the ventures, Variety reported. That includes the unnamed project on which Square started working in March 2000, which is scheduled to be completed by next summer.
New Quake, Doom Editions Due
d Software and Activision announced the holiday release of Quake III: Gold Edition, Ultimate Quake and Doom: Collector's Edition, special editions of the popular game franchises.
Quake III: Gold Edition will be available for the Mac and PC, featuring full versions of Quake III Arena and Quake III: Team Arena and carrying a suggested retail price of $29.99.
Ultimate Quake includes full versions of Quake, Quake II and Quake III Arena for the PC and carries a suggested retail price of $29.99.
Doom: Collector's Edition includes full versions of The Ultimate Doom, Doom II and Final Doom and is priced at $19.99.
Atlantis Slips To No. 7
earts in Atlantis dropped to seventh place in the box-office rankings, taking in about $5.4 million for the weekend of Oct. 5, the Hollywood trade papers reported.
In its third weekend of release, the Anthony Hopkins movie has grossed about $16.8 million.
The Others slipped to No. 9, with about $3 million for the weekend and a total of about $90.7 million for the summer. Though it placed out of the top 10, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 grossed an estimated $819,196 from 338 theaters during its third weekend, down just 20 percent, bringing its total to about $3.9 million, the trade papers reported.
Briefly Noted
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The Coming Soon Web site reported a rumor that Sandra Bullock has dropped out of a proposed Wonder Woman movie.
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Variety reported that syndicated reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer staked out the highest debut for an off-network weekly hour since the premiere of ER in 1998, according to Nielsen Media Research data for the week ending Sept. 30. Buffy reruns debuted with a 2.7 in household ratings, the trade paper reported.
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Ratings for UPN's new Enterprise series declined 9 percent in their third week, but still finished 35 percent ahead of those for Star Trek: Voyager in its third episode a year ago, Variety reported. The series won its timeslot in all adult male demographics. Special Unit 2 held up well in its second week, the trade paper reported.
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Superman star Christopher Reeve accepted $2 million in federal funds to establish an education resource center for people with paralysis and their families, the Associated Press reported. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center will provide educational materials, referral services and other information to improve the lives of more than 2 million Americans with paralysis.
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The official Star Wars Web site has posted new message boards for fans of the saga.
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Cinema Confidential reported a rumor that George Lucas will soon announce that the first trailer for Star Wars: Episode II—The Attack of the Clones will be attached to copies of the animated movie Monsters, Inc., which opens Nov. 2.
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Kismet Entertainment Group and International Media Films have formed a new company, Kismet Classics, to exploit the remake rights of 13 horror films helmed by Italian director Mario Bava, along with 14 other Italian horror, SF and adventure films, Variety columnist Michael Fleming reported. Bava's films include Baron Blood, Black Sabbath, Black Sunday, House of Exorcism and Bay of Blood.
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast member Amber Benson (Tara) has completed her independent film Chance, which she wrote, produced, directed and starred in, Variety reported. Other cast members of Buffy and its spinoff series, Angel, reportedly appear in the romantic comedy.
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The Oct. 9 second sixth-season episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on UPN earned a 2.6 rating/7 share for the night, besting old network The WB's season premiere of Gilmore Girls slightly (2.6/6). The network premiere of Roswell on the same night earned a 1.7/4, an improvement over UPN's timeslot average from last year.
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The Moviehole Web site reported a rumor that Jason Scott Lee (Dragon) is set to star in the two proposed straight-to-video sequels to Wes Craven's Dracula 2000 film. Jamison Goel (Hellraiser: Inferno) will handle visual effects, the site reported. The first sequel is called Dracula Resurrection and is shooting in Romania under director Patrick Lussier, who also co-wrote the script, the site reported.
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The Comics2Film Web site has neuralyzed a rumor that King of Pop Michael Jackson will make a cameo in Barry Sonnenfeld's upcoming Men in Black 2. Unit publicist Rob Harris told the site that producers had talked to Jackson about it, but couldn't work out the scheduling.
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John Schultz will direct teen rapper Lil' Bow Wow in his feature starring debut in Like Mike, a fantasy film about a teen-ager who finds a pair of Michael Jordan's sneakers that have magical powers, which catapult him to the NBA, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Paul Walker, star of the film adaptation of Michael Crichton's time-travel novel Timeline, told Chicago Sun-Times columnist Cindy Pearlman that it's "a sci-fi movie where I play an undergrad student who joins this team of archeologists. In the midst of digging up a site, we discover that people can time-travel back into the medieval period. ... It's going to be very dark, like Ladyhawke. There are beheadings and cutting off fingers. It's a wicked, big movie."
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The Lost Boys director Joel Schumacher told Filmlink magazine that he won't direct a proposed sequel, The Lost Girls, according to a report on the Moviehole Web site. He also disputed a rumor that Britney Spears was in line to play a girl vampire in the movie. "I don't know," Schumacher told the magazine. "I'm not directing it, so the director will choose. If she can act, she might be in it. It's not got much to do with me."
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The Moviehole Web site reported that Miramax is developing two direct-to-video sequels to Wes Craven's Dracula 2000 film.
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WENN reported that James Bond star Pierce Brosnan may make a cameo appearance in the upcoming Austin Powers: Goldmember, according to a story on the Dark Horizons Web site. Brosnan will reportedly spoof his onscreen image by playing a promiscuous secret agent who puts Austin's bedroom exploits to shame.
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Two anonymous bidders paid £12,500 ($18,391) for two wands used in the production of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the Empire Online Web site reported. The wands were auctioned to benefit Edinburgh's cancer charity Maggie's Centre. Potter author J K Rowling donated the wands to the center and autographed the boxes containing the magic sticks, which also bear inscriptions saying "Remember: Underage wizards must not use magic outside Hogwarts."
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The People News Web site reported a rumor that Alan Cumming (Spy Kids) will replace Hugh Grant in the second Harry Potter film. Cumming will reportedly take over the role of Prof. Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
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Sony Pictures announced that it will launch an interactive PDA-based game to promote its upcoming SF thriller film The One. The game has been designed by Media Revolution and allows players to be a character similar to the one played by star Jet Li. The One opens Nov. 2.
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Australia's TV Week magazine reported that Oz TV star Clayton Watson will appear in both sequels to The Matrix. "My character is called the kid," Watson told the magazine. "He's introduced in the first sequel and follows through to the second. I started filming in San Francisco in July, and I'll do more in January at Fox Studios in Sydney."
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In a statement, Timothy Hines, director of a proposed independent film version of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, denied rumors that the film will resume production. "It is absolutely not true that War of the Worlds is about to resume," Hines said. "The reality is that we are massively reworking the script in the wake of the World Trade Center disaster, and we will not be able to go before the cameras for a little over a year."
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